“My name is Trixie Lulamoon. You may also know me as the Great and Powerful Trixie. I am a powerful Unicorn, who specialises in illusions and enchantments. I am also skilled at Judo, fishing, art, literature, singing (regardless of what Doctor may say)…Yep, I am indeed a mare of many skills. But my favourite talent by far, is my keen observation skills and logical reasoning, which allow me to be a great detective. In fact, if my mother hadn’t pushed me towards becoming a showmare, I would probably be out solving cases that have even the Royal Guard baffled by now.
“A few months ago, I wandered into a small town called Ponyville, where I attempted to wow the audience with my amazing magic and tales of heroism over the dreaded Ursa Major. Little did I know, that two foolish colts who looked up to Trixie would actually be stupid enough to bring an Ursa Major into town! Even though it turned out to be an Ursa Minor, it was still a scary situation, and I almost lost my life over it!
“Having lost my home and all of my possessions in the attack, I was forced to return to Ponyville and seek a job so that I could afford a train ticket to Manehatten. As luck would have it, an old friend of mine, Doctor Whooves, is a resident of Ponyville. Doctor is a genius inventor, or so he claims. The truth is, most of his inventions don’t work, and the ones that do aren’t really that useful.
“Anyway, he took me in, and is helping me to get back on my hooves. When we saw an advertisement about a trivia game show with a grand prize of one million bits, Doctor pulled a few strings to get me on as one of their contestants. When it comes to lots of information about random subjects, I am also number one at that, too.
“Finally, the moment has arrived for me to get back on my hooves! Tonight was going to be the night that the Great and Powerful Trixie would finally get the money she needed to jumpstart her showmare career once more! That was the hope, at least…But unfortunately, fate had other plans for me.”
“Trixie? We’re almost there.” Trixie opened her eyes and saw Doctor nudging her awake. She let out a loud yawn, and stretched her limbs to wake them up. “Rise and shine, Trixie!” Doctor shouted cheerfully as he got up and grabbed his saddlebags. “Have a good nap?”
“Hm…” Trixie responded, rubbing her eyes and slowly rising to her hooves. The entire room spun around. She still wasn’t fully awake yet, and Doctor had to wait a while before she was willing to give a proper answer. “Trixie had a terrible dream. She’s glad that she is awake now.”
“Oh, sorry to hear that.” Doctor said, passing Trixie’s saddlebag to her. “Well, let’s not worry about it too much. Come on, the train’s gonna be stopping at the Manehatten station soon!”
Trixie followed Doctor through the train, but was still weary, and didn’t notice the two ponies in front of her until she bumped into them. “Ow! Hey, watch we’re you go-” She stopped her yelling when she looked up at one of the ponies that she had bumped into. It was a tall stallion, dressed in a black overall trench coat, and wearing a black hat on his head. He had a long blonde mane, and a looked that sent chills throughout Trixie’s whole body.
“Ah, terribly sorry about that!” Trixie and the two ponies she had bumped into turned towards Doctor, who was helping Trixie to her hooves. “She’s still a little tired from the long train ride. No harm done, right?”
Doctor and Trixie walked past the two ponies and continued down the train. Trixie remained silent, and even kept her breath held in, until they had exited the train. ‘Those eyes…’ Trixie recalled the look that the stallion in black had given her when she looked up at him. ‘Those were the eyes of a killer!’ Trixie shivered when she remember the stallion’s eyes, and tried her best to forget about them.
“You ok?” Doctor asked, snapping Trixie out of her state and bringing her back to reality. “You look a little cold. Though I don’t know how you can be cold with that on.” He pointed to Trixie’s purple cape with a yellow star pattern on it.
Trixie nodded her head and began walking. “Trixie’s fine. Come, Doctor. Let’s make our way to the hotel.”
Trixie and Doctor went their separate ways after checking into the hotel. Doctor rushed off to the Manehatten Museum of Equestrian History. As well as being a great inventor, Doctor was a history maniac, and loved museums as much as he loved inventing.
Trixie arrived at the TV station and made her way to the backstage area for the game show she would soon be appearing in as a contestant. There would be another contestant competing against Trixie for the grand prize.
“WHAT!? What are you doing here!?” Trixie shouted as she saw Twilight Sparkle, the purple Unicorn who had showed Trixie up in Ponyville by “defeating” the Ursa Minor with her magic.
“Trixie? Is that you?” Twilight asked, staring wide-eyed at the blue Unicorn. “Wow! I never expected to see you here! How have you been?”
Trixie was taken aback by Twilight’s friendly tone. It was as if Twilight was meeting up with a friend that she hadn’t seen in a long time, but Trixie was sure that neither of them were on good terms with each other. “W-Why are you being so friendly with Trixie? Do you not remember how she humiliated your friends before?”
“Well, they did accept your challenge fair and square, although you kind of went overboard with Rarity…” Twilight walked closer to Trixie, keeping her smile on her face. “Anyway, ever since you left Ponyville, I’ve been wanting to talk to you. You see, I looked through the wreckage of your caravan and-”
Trixie’s face immediately became flustered and she cut Twilight off before she could go any further. “T-THOSE MAGAZINES AREN’T MINE!” Trixie shouted, placing a hoof to her mouth to calm herself down. Twilight looked at her confused, and Trixie realised that she may have made a mistake. “Um…I mean…So, what did you find?”
“Um…” Twilight shook her head, deciding to ignore what Trixie had just shouted for now. “I found a few books that, while a bit damaged, are still in readable condition. And I’ve gotta say, I was quite impressed by them! I had no idea you were such a good writer.”
Trixie realised that Twilight must have read some of the books that Trixie wrote in her spare time. “Oh, yes…Well, of course. Trixie is a mare of many talents, after all.” She then leaned her head towards Twilight, a cocky grin forming on her face. “You may be able to best Trixie in magic, but tonight, Trixie will prove that she is better than you in every other regard.”
Twilight returned the grin and levitated a pair of glasses onto her face. “Bring it.” She said, but then realised that they still had some time before they had to go on.
There was an awkward silence between the two, before Trixie tried to break it with some random topic of conversation. “So…You wear glasses?”
“Oh, no, not really…” Twilight said, scratching the back of her head and laughing nervously. “My friend Pinkie Pie said I should wear them. She said I’ll be smarter if I do…”
“And you believe her?” Trixie asked, looking at Twilight with surprise.
“Well, no, but if I don’t wear them I’ll never hear the end of it.” Twilight then looked over Trixie’s shoulder and waved a hoof, smiling at something behind Trixie. “Hey guys!”
Trixie turned around and saw a group of ponies approaching the two. Trixie recognised three of them: The white Unicorn, the cyan Pegasus, and the orange Earth Pony. There was also a pink Earth Pony with them that Trixie couldn’t remember, but she still felt familiar to Trixie.
The four ponies stopped when they saw Trixie and all except the pink Earth Pony started to frown and moan amongst themselves. “Well, Trixie thinks it’s obvious when she’s just a nuisance. She’ll be on her way now.”
“Wait!” Pinkie Pie shouted out, startling Trixie when she somehow managed to run up to her in less than a second. “You can’t leave yet! I still haven’t thrown you a party yet!”
Trixie looked confused at the pink pony, and turned to Twilight Sparkle. “Can Trixie receive an explanation, please?”
Twilight laughed and walked up the two, pushing Pinkie Pie back a bit to put some distance between the two. “She wanted to throw you a party last time you were in Ponyville, but you left so suddenly.”
Trixie was about to speak up, but the sudden yelling of two ponies behind her startled her, as well as the rest of the group. She turned around to see a mare and stallion arguing about something. The mare was a yellow Earth Pony with long, brown hair, and the stallion was a grey Pegasus with blue, spiky hair.
“I told you to stop bothering me! Just do you job and leave me alone!”
“But I need to know why! What’s he got that I haven’t!?”
“Well, for one thing, he knows how to please a mare. For another, he’s not some clingy, over-emotional wreck. And finally-” The mare stopped when another, taller mare, walked up behind her and whispered something into her ear. “Look, I’m really busy. Just stay away from me, alright?”
The two mares walked away, leaving the stallion all by himself, staring at the ground with a long face. “You bitch…You bitch!” He shouted to no-one in particular, startling many of the stagehooves around him.
Trixie turned to Twilight and Pinkie Pie, and noticed that Twilight’s other friends had moved closer to them than earlier. “Trixie forgot. What were we talking about?”
“Your party!” Pinkie Pie shouted out, once again in Trixie’s face, causing Trixie to back up and fall down.
Twilight pulled Pinkie Pie away from Trixie, and then realised that two of her friends weren’t present. “Hey, where’re Spike and Fluttershy?”
“Spike’s ill, and Fluttershy wanted to stay behind to look after him.” Rarity explained, before turning to Trixie and glaring at her. “In any case, since Trixie is here, I assume that she is your opponent?”
“That’s right.” Trixie said, returning Rarity’s glare.
“Heh, then you’ve got no chance!” Rainbow Dash said, floating in the air besides Twilight. “Twilight’s the biggest egghead in Equestria! Only the Princess could hope to beat her!”
“That so?” Trixie responded, grinning towards Twilight Sparkle. “Then if Trixie beats her tonight, does that mean Trixie is on equal footing with Princess Celestia?”
Twilight and her friends looked un-amused at Trixie’s joke, seeing it as an insult towards their beloved Princess. “That’s not funny, Trixie.” Twilight said.
“Who said it was a joke? Your friend seems to think that you are second only to the Princess, so Trixie was merely confirming what defeating you tonight means for Trixie.” Trixie walked up towards Twilight, ignoring Rainbow Dash’s warnings to back off. “Let’s make things interesting, Sparkle.”
“Interesting?” Twilight asked, not sure what Trixie meant.
“A bet. If Trixie wins, you must assist Trixie with her showmare career.” Twilight and her friends looked at her confused, and she explained. “Even if it is inferior to Trixie’s, your magic is most certainly impressive, and is sure to bring in a crowd when combined with my own great and powerful act.”
“And what if Twilight wins?” Applejack asked.
Trixie looked at Applejack for a second, and then turned to Twilight. “Well, Sparkle? What do you want from Trixie if, by some miracle, you win tonight?”
Twilight looked around at her friends, who were all suggesting she make Trixie do something embarrassing in front of Ponyville, except for Pinkie Pie, who was telling her to make Trixie attend her party. Twilight put a hoof to her chin, and then turned back to Trixie. “If I win…You have to come back to Ponyville with us and learn the values of friendship.”
“WHAT!?” Everypony around her yelled in unison, each one of them equally confused. Trixie in particular was very confused.
“Trixie, the truth is, for the last year now, I’ve been in living in Ponyville, studying the magic of friendship as per the Princess’ orders.” Trixie was surprised by this. Not just that Twilight was acquainted with the Princess, but also with what the Princess was making her study. Friendship? Was that really something the Princess needed to have somepony study? “In one of my more recent letters from the Princess, she asked me to help pass on my findings to somepony who was struggling with making friends, but I don’t know anypony like that.
“That’s why, if I win this game tonight, you have to come back and become my pupil.” Twilight had to resist putting on a smug grin at the thought of finally having her own pupil, but she wasn’t doing very well.
Trixie considered what Twilight had said, and then extended her hoof. “Very well then. It makes no difference to Trixie, since Trixie is going to win anyway.”
“Also you have to stop talking like that.”
“Don’t push your luck, Sparkle. One victory condition is all you get.” Trixie said, grinning at Twilight. The two of them shared a laugh together as Twilight reached out and shook Trixie’s hoof with her own.
Rainbow Dash floated up to Trixie and landed in front of her, a big grin on her face which made Trixie uncomfortable. “W-What is it, rainbow one?”
“Name’s Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow said, slightly annoyed, but still grinning as she leaned in towards Trixie. “And just thought you should know, your magazines are still in Ponyville. Wanna collect them sometime?”
Trixie’s eyes shot open as she moved back from Rainbow Dash, flailing wildly. “T-THOSE AREN’T TRIXIE’S! HONEST! THEY’RE-”
She was cut off by a loud scream that caused everypony in the room to fall quiet, before turning in the direction of the scream. “What the? What was that!?” Applejack asked, looking at her friends. Trixie and Twilight wasted no time running in the direction of the scream, quickly being followed by their friends.
They eventually reached a crowd of ponies around a door that led into a changing room, and Trixie and Twilight pushed through the crowd, using their magic to push the ponies apart. When they were finally through, they were shocked at what they saw. Inside the changing room, lying on the floor, was a body, holding onto a knife, with multiple stab wounds on its chest.
“Somepony call the police immediately!” Trixie shouted, entering the changing room slowly, being careful not to step on anything. “Hm?” She noticed something on the body that looked odd, and then realised something. ‘This was made to look like a suicide, but…’
Before she could finish her thought, Twilight, who was standing next to her, finished it out loud. “There’s no doubt. This is a murder.”
Thirty minutes later, the police had arrived and had started to examine the scene of the crime, which Twilight and Trixie helped keep undisturbed by standing guard. Inspector Megure, a buff, brown Earth Pony who wore a brown trench coat and a brown hat, wanted to keep all of the suspects together.
The suspects were:
Fossil Digger – The victim’s boyfriend, who was the last pony seen with the victim. According to him, he broke up with the victim prior to her death.
Stock Trader – The victim’s ex-boyfriend. When his business started failing, he was dumped by the victim, and is now working part-time as a stagehoof at the studio. It was known throughout the studio that he was desperately trying to get back together with the victim, and that she was treating him like trash. He was seen arguing with the victim and calling her a bitch prior to her death.
Tidal Wave – The victim’s brother, and a pro surfer and swimmer. He visited the studio to cheer his sister on. His hoofprints were found on the handle of the knife.
Juliet – A friend of the victim. She has a crush on Fossil Digger, but he rejected her because he liked the victim. She is an actor at the studio, who works alongside the victim. Her earring was found in the victim’s changing room, despite her claims that she hadn’t met with the victim that day.
The victim was named Shining Star. She was an actor at the studio. The one to discover the body at 20:55 was the victim’s agent, who was dropping by to check up on her client. She had an alibi for the estimated time of death, so she was not a suspect. After being held for questioning, she was asked to stay, in case they had questions to ask later.
Twilight’s friends wanted to leave, but everypony in the studio was asked to not leave until the investigation was over. Twilight and Trixie decided to pass the time by doing some investigating.
Twilight entered the room where the body was found and started to look around. She noticed that the room was in rather good condition. Certainly no signs of a struggle occurring. She looked over at the dresser and saw the earring in question that had been found. It had yet to be collected by the investigation team, and it was still in the state in which it was found.
She took a closer look, and then noticed a suitcase near to the dresser. It was locked with a key that Megure had found, but the contents were deemed irrelevant to the case. It was just a bunch of clothes belonging to the victim.
“Come on! This was obviously a suicide!” Twilight turned around and watched as the suspects tried to reason with the inspector to be allowed to leave. “Now let me go! My parents are waiting for me!”
“No, you see, this wasn’t a suicide…” Inspector Megure said, trying to keep the suspects from leaving. “Some of the stabs wounds are impossible to make when holding the knife in the way the victim did, and there’s no reason to stab yourself multiple times to kill yourself! We believe that this was a murder that the culprit tried to cover up!”
“Then it was Tidal Wave! His hoofprints were the only ones on the knife, besides the victims!” Fossil shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at Tidal, who was starting to back away in fear. “Just look at that face! It’s obvious that he’s guilty!”
“N-No! I didn’t do it! Honestly!”
Twilight watched the group argue amongst themselves, and then looked over at the dead body. ‘The blood was dry when the body was found. So the killer had plenty of time to remove the knife and clean it, assuming they didn’t act in the heat of the murder. But those wounds…They wouldn’t kill instantly, and after the first stab, you’d think Shining would start to fight back. But there’s no sign of a struggle, and if the killer didn’t recover the knife, I can’t imagine they went to the trouble of cleaning it up. Not to mention the blood splatter…’ Twilight examined the blood splatter and pointed out in her mind that, if the victims was killed by the multiple stab wounds, the blood should be all over the place.
She noticed a strange spot in the blood. It was a square patch in the middle of the pool of blood. “Excuse me, inspector?” The inspector turned around and looked at Twilight. “What’s this strange patch in the blood splatter here?”
The inspector walked over and looked at where Twilight was pointing. “Hm? Oh, that? We don’t know, but we assume that something was there and then removed by the killer.”
“But if that’s the case, wouldn’t they take the knife, too?”
“Maybe they didn’t think they had enough time. Whatever must have been here, it must have been pretty important. Too bad we can’t find it anywhere…”
Twilight leaned down and examined the patch closely. The inspector glared at her and asked who she was. “Twilight Sparkle.” She answered, concentrating on the strange patch on the floor. ‘Hey! There’re flakes of dried blood here! Does that mean…’
“Twilight Sparkle? I’ve heard that name before…” Megure put his hoof to his chin as he tried to remember where he had heard the name before.
Twilight rose to her hooves and looked over at the four suspects, and then back at the body. ‘This mare wasn’t killed by being stabbed. She was poisoned. I can tell from the purple marks on her throat. So in other words, somepony tried to frame Tidal Wave. But who? The murderer has to be one of the other three…And if my theory’s right, I might just have the evidence I need in this room, but…’
“Sparkle!” Everypony in the room turned to the entrance to see Trixie entering the room.
Trixie and Twilight entered the changing room of Fossil Digger. After examining the Juliet’s changing rooms for a bit, Trixie decided to enter Fossil’s changing room with Twilight so that they could share their findings together whilst investigating this last room. Trixie found something, and called Twilight over.
It was a sheet of paper with the Shining Star’s schedule on it. “Um, Trixie? How is this relevant? I mean, they were boyfriend and girlfriend, after all.”
“Look on the back, Sparkle.” Twilight turned the paper around and saw another schedule. “This is her agent’s schedule. And look. At this particular part.” Trixie pointed a hoof at a ring circling around two of Shining Star’s agent’s activities. The time gap in between contained the estimated time of the murder. “It seems Fossil was interested in when Shining’s agent would be away from Shining Star. It seems he wanted to be alone with her, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, but…He was planning to break up with her. Maybe he just wanted to be alone with her?”
“That’s not all Trixie has found in here.” She turned around and motioned towards a cup of coffee on the desk. “This cup has been out for a while. And also…Well, go ahead and see for yourself.”
Twilight walked over to the cup and looked inside. “Um…I don’t get it. What am I supposed to be seeing?”
“You’re not. Try smelling, instead.”
Twilight took a whiff of the coffee, and then backed away, recognising the smell. “I see…But we still don’t have any evidence.”
“Wrong. We do.” Trixie said, smiling at Twilight as she pointed a hoof towards a saddlebag. “The coffee is still out, meaning that, if he is the killer, then he didn’t have enough time to destroy the evidence. That means…”
“I see…Actually, now that I think about it…That’s it! We have all the evidence now!” Twilight ran towards the doorway of the changing room and looked over at Trixie. “Come on! Let’s go! We have to tell the inspector right away!”
“What!? You’ve found the murderer!?” Megure asked, looking at the two mares in shock.
“Yes.” Twilight said, pointing towards the purple mark on the victim’s neck. “First, the method of killing. If you look closely, you’ll see a purple mark on the victim’s neck.” Megure looked closely and nodded. “This same mark is caused as the result of a certain slow-acting poison.”
“You’re saying this was the result of a poisoning? But isn’t possible that the victim struggled with the killer?”
“No, the room’s too clean for that, and the blood splatter shows that the victim was staying still when being stabbed.”
“But there was no poison found anywhere in the room, and victim’s water wasn’t even touched.”
Trixie stepped in and continued from where Twilight left off. “If you search Fossil’s room, you’ll find a cup of coffee that contains the same poison. You can tell by the stench alone, and if you have it examined at a lab, you’ll defiantly find the poison in there.”
Megure signalled for his officers to secure the cup. Trixie also requested for two more items to be retrieved from the room. Megure turned to Fossil, who was backing up against the wall. “So, does that mean that Fossil is the murderer?”
“That’s what we thought at first, but no.” Twilight said. “The witness who saw Fossil leave Shining’s room said that it was at 20:25. That was around the estimated time of death. If Fossil killed her, he would have had plenty of time to destroy the evidence in his room. And yet he didn’t.”
“That’s because the cup was left there intentionally, to put the blame on Fossil.” Trixie said, pointing down at the knife. “The same pony who came in after Shining had died, which was also after Fossil had left. They then proceeded to stab the body with the knife.”
“To also pin blame on Tidal Wave? Then I guess that earring was to-”
“No.” Trixie interrupted. “The earring was put there by the victim. If you check Juliet’s jewellery box, you’ll find strands of hair from the victim in there. Trixie guesses that the victim was attempting to steal the earring for the valuable diamond embedded within.”
“That bitch!” Juliet shouted, gaining everypony’s attention for a second. She covered her mouth with her hooves and tried to move the topic on. “S-So, then, who’s the killer? If it wasn’t Fossil or Tidal, then that means it was either me or Stock, right?”
“And considering your earring was stolen by the victim…” Tidal Wave said, eyeing Juliet suspiciously.
“No.” Twilight said, looking over at the four suspects. “It was a nice try, but you messed up big time. With a sound mind…”
“And a keen eye for detail…” Trixie continued.
Trixie and Twilight pointed their hooves forward, and spoke in unison. “Only one truth prevails! The killer…Was you, Tidal Wave!”
Everypony gasped and turned towards Tidal Wave, and then back at the two mares. “But…Why would Tidal Wave intentionally leave a knife with his own hoofmarkings on it at the crime scene if he was the murderer!?”
“The autopsy report would have shown the poison. Especially when its effects started to make the victim’s whole body turn purple, as opposed to just a portion of the neck.” Twilight explained, and then let Trixie continue for her.
“He was counting on you finding the poison, so that it would look like somepony was trying to frame him. That would, in his eyes, clear him of suspicion.” Trixie saw some police ponies enter the room with the items that were requested. “In Fossil’s room, we found a schedule sheet and a saddlebag. Chances are that the killer wanted to make sure the victim would die when they would be alone for a while, so that they could sneak into their room and continue with their plan.”
Twilight walked over to the bag and opened it up. “As I thought. Here’s the poison that was used in the murder, stored safely inside the bag…In a hidden compartment.” Twilight said, using a hoofkerchief to pull out the bottle of poison. “Isn’t it strange? Why take the time to hide the poison, but not do anything to hide the poisoned coffee?”
Trixie stepped forward once again. “Furthermore, Fossil was on-stage 25 minutes before the victim’s estimated time of death. That’s how long it takes for this particular poison to take effect. This would mean that it would be impossible for him to poison her. What actually happened is that Tidal Wave poisoned her in Fossil’s room, and then planted the bottle of poison into his saddlebag.”
“Now hold on!” Tidal shouted, outraged by these claims. “How can you just stand there and say I murdered my sister when you don’t even have any proof!?”
“The proof is the strange pattern in the blood splatter.” Twilight said. “When you stabbed the victim, you noticed that there was something on the floor. But by that point, it was too late. Because it was stained in blood.”
“Even if a little blood splatter hit you from the body, all you would have to do is wash it off in the bathroom of this changing room. However, if you got soaked in it, or tried to move whatever you found, things would become more complicated.” Trixie said, walking closer to Tidal Wave. “That’s why you waited for the blood to dry, so that you could pick it up without getting too much blood on yourself.”
Twilight approached Tidal alongside Trixie, a stern look on her face. “You didn’t have much time to hide whatever you took, and you didn’t have enough time to destroy it, either. There’s only one place you could have hidden it…So, would you let us check your coat’s pocket?”
Tidal Wave backed up and looked around for a way to escape, but when Megure approached, he saw that he had no choice. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a sheet of paper with bloodstains on it. “I had no choice. It was the only way I could be free.” Tidal Wave said, handing the paper to the inspector.
“This is…A blackmail letter?” Megure asked, just barely making out the writing on the unstained side.
“Yes…A few years ago, I…I made a terrible mistake, that cost the life of my friend, whilst we were swimming in the ocean…My sister was able to cover it up, make it look like an accident, but…” Tidal ducked down and held his head in his hooves. “I couldn’t take it anymore! She was controlling me! Using me to carry out her every will! Stealing, digging up dirt on other actors to ruin their careers, even helping her to cheat on Fossil!”
Fossil ran up to Tidal and grabbed him by his coat’s collar in a rage. “What did you just say!?”
“She was using me, threatening to reveal the truth if I stepped out of line! I had to do something! I had to make her stop! And the only way I could do that…The only way…” Tears started to pour down Tidal’s face as he remembered the moment where he stabbed his sister’s body multiple times. “I had to k-kill her, and to m-make sure I wasn’t c-caught…I tried to pin the blame on Fossil…” He turned towards Fossil and stared at him with a mixture of guilt and horror. “Please…Forgive me…I…I…”
Everypony in the room remained silent as Tidal continued to fill the room with the sounds of his crying.
After Tidal Wave confessed everything to the inspector, he was arrested for murder, and everypony else in the studio was allowed to leave. The game show that Twilight and Trixie were to appear on was called off, and Twilight and Trixie were paid a small compensation of 5000 bits each.
Since neither mare took part in the game show, neither mare had won the wager, much to Trixie’s disappointment. She was looking to combining her own magic with Twilight’s to create a performance that would attract even the nobles of Canterlot.
As Twilight and Trixie walked down the streets of Manehatten together, the two complimented each other on their skills, and found that they actually had a lot in common. They both liked a lot of the same books, they both attended the same magic school, and they were both very studious bookworms who felt the most comfortable when surround by literature.
As the two talked on and on, getting to know each other, Twilight’s friends walked a short distance behind them, at first watching with concern as their friend seemed to be getting along with the egotistical Unicorn that most of them didn’t like very much, but then their expressions changed to amusement at how well the two mares were getting along, and worry when they realised that Trixie was starting to seem like another Twilight.
One Twilight was fun at times, but could sometimes be a little hard to deal with. The thought of another mare so much like her worried Twilight’s friends, but they were at least happy that Twilight seemed to be having so much fun, so they talked quietly amongst themselves as the two Unicorns in front of them continued to get acquainted with one another.
“Really!? That’s the one Sherclop Holmes I could never find!” Trixie shouted in excitement.
Twilight smiled and nodded, a slight blush on her face as she realised ponies on the other side of the street looking over at the two mares after Trixie’s loud shouting. “Yeah, it’s probably my favourite one. If you’d like, I could let you borrow it sometime.”
“R-Really? You’d do that for Trixie?” Trixie wanted to grab Twilight and pull her into a tight hug, but she wasn’t sure if they were close enough for that yet. Yes they had been getting along fine during their walk through Manehatten, but Trixie wasn’t an expert on friendship, and she wasn’t sure how it worked. “Then-”
“Twilight.” Twilight and Trixie stopped walking and turned around to see that Twilight’s friends had stopped. Applejack stayed outside whilst the other three mares walked inside the hotel in front of them. “This is our hotel.”
Twilight looked at Applejack, and then at Trixie, and then back at Applejack. “But…Trixie and I still have lots of stuff to talk about…” Twilight said, a frown forming on her face as her ears dropped.
Trixie was also saddened at this. Trixie was staying at a different hotel, and also wanted to talk with Twilight some more. Trixie eventually let out a sigh, and was about to say goodbye to Twilight, when suddenly, Twilight’s face lit up.
“Oh, that’s it!” She shouted, grabbing Trixie’s front hooves with her own. “Why don’t you stay with us tonight!? Then we can talk more and more! It’ll be just like a slumber party!” Twilight clapped her hooves together excitedly, and didn’t realise Applejack jumping up and bolting inside at the mention of a slumber party.
Trixie looked at Twilight with a smile on her face, but it soon faded into a frown as she realised something. “Trixie…Has never been to a slumber party before. She doesn’t know how they work…”
Twilight put a reassuring hoof on Trixie’s shoulder and smiled at her. “No problem! I don’t mean to brag, but I’m something of an expert on the subject.” She said, pride obvious on her face and in her voice.
“Really!?” Trixie said with genuine amazement and admiration, and her face once again lit up into a smile. “Wow! You really are Trixie’s one and only equal!” Trixie turned around and got ready to start running. “Trixie has to go back to her hotel room to pick something up! It’s a book she thinks you will like! She’ll be right back!”
Trixie began running off down the street, and Twilight shouted to her: “Ok! I’ll be waiting out here for you! Don’t take too long!”
Trixie galloped through the streets with a cheerful smile on her face. ‘Trixie…Trixie has finally met somepony she can talk to! This feeling…Is this what friendship is? Trixie must research this further! She’s never felt anything like it before!’
Trixie noticed an alleyway that would act as a shortcut back to her hotel, and decided to cut through it. She slowed down to a walk both out of exhaustion, and because it was dark and she needed to watch her step. She stopped when she reached a T-junction in the alleyway, and heard voices coming from around the corner. Out of curiosity, and to make sure it wasn’t somepony suspicious, since it was dark outside, she poked her head around the corner.
She saw two stallions talking with each other. They were both dressed in business suits. One was a tall, thin stallion wearing a green suit, and the other was a short, somewhat chubby stallion wearing a black suit and a black hat on his head, his eyes covered by a pair of shades. Trixie recognised him as one of the two stallions from the train earlier that day. He was with the tall, scary looking one that…Just remembering that other stallion sent shivers down Trixie’s spine.
“Ok, I brought you the money, now give me the tape!” The pony in the green suit said, offering a briefcase to the other pony.
“First, let me check inside.” The pony in black opened the briefcase, smiled as he eyed the contents, and then closed it and took the briefcase, giving the other pony a VHS tape in return. “Alright, 200 mil confirmed. Here.”
‘200 mil!?’ Trixie shouted in her head. ‘That’s a lot of bits! This looks pretty shady…Trixie should go find a police officer, fast!’
“And you’re sure this is the only copy?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. Destroy that tape, and all evidence of your smuggling will be destroyed.”
‘Smuggling? T-Trixie really should fine a police officer and-’
Before Trixie could finish her line of thought, she heard hoofsteps drawing closer to her. She turned around quickly, but not quickly enough to dodge an incoming attack as a pipe was smacked across the side of her head.
Trixie fell to the floor, barely staying conscious as she held her head in pain. “W-What the!?” The pony in black shouted, seeing Trixie falling down. He ran up to her, allowing his client to leave now that the transaction had been finished. “Somepony was spying on us!?”
From around the corner, another stallion dressed in black emerged. Although Trixie’s vision was blurry, she recognised him as the same stallion from the train who she had bumped into. He stared at his partner angrily. “You were careless. She could have revealed our transaction to the police.”
“Yeah yeah…” The other pony said, pulling out a gun and aiming it at Trixie. “I’ll take care of her.”
“No. There are police officers nearby after that murder incident earlier.” The tall stallion took out a small case from his coat pocket, and grinned wickedly at Trixie. “Let’s try this. The new drug, courtesy of the Organization. It can’t be traced in an autopsy, and we have yet to test it on anypony yet. She’ll make an excellent test subject.”
The shorter stallion nodded and put his gun away, and then noticed something. “Hey, that's the "Great and Powerful Trixie”, right?” He smirked as his partner leant down and slipped the drug into Trixie’s mouth. “Looks like her final act will be a grand and mysterious disappearing act, eh?”
Once the tall stallion had forced the drug into Trixie’s mouth and washed it down with some water, the two stallions gave her one final wicked look, before galloping away from the scene, leaving Trixie to die in the alleyway.
‘My chest…My chest is burning…Somepony, please…Twilight, help me…I’m…Going to die…’
Trixie woke up to the feel of water dripping on her face. She groaned as she looked up at the night sky above her, her head feeling like it was splitting in two. She tried to remember the day’s events. “Let’s see…Trixie boarded the train…Met Sparkle and her friends…Ah! The two stallions in black!”
Trixie looked around, and found herself completely alone in the dark alleyway. She remembered being slipped a drug of some kind, and feeling like her entire body was on fire. She slowly rose to her hooves, although it took some effort, and she almost fell over a few times.
She made her way out of the dark alley, grunting as she took each step. Once she was out, she took a moment to wait for her vision to return to her. She looked up at the tall buildings in front of her. Something seemed wrong; she was sure that they weren’t that tall before. “Maybe Trixie’s just imagining things. Trixie should go and find a police officer, fast.”
Down the street, a familiar pony caught Trixie’s eyes. It was a brown Earth Pony stallion with an hourglass Cutie Mark. “Doctor!” she shouted as she raced down the otherwise empty street. “Doctor, Trixie needs your help!”
Doctor stopped and turned to Trixie. He looked at her with a confused look, but then bowed politely and offered his hoof. “I’m sorry, miss, I don’t think we’ve been introduced. Are you a friend of Trixie’s?”
Trixie looked at Doctor dumbfounded. “Can you please be serious for once, Doctor? Trixie really needs your help!”
Doctor’s look of confusion returned as he knelt down to look Trixie in the eyes. This is when Trixie noticed that Doctor was two times bigger than before. “Ok, where is Trixie? And what’s the problem?”
Trixie growled at Doctor and flailed her front hooves about angrily. “Trixie’s right here! I’m Trixie!”
Doctor sighed and rose to his hooves. “Oh, I get it, this is one of Trixie’s practical jokes, isn’t it? Very funny, but if you don’t mind, I’m rather busy, so-”
“You call yourself Doctor, but your real name is Time Turner! Your favourite food is hay, your least favourite is pears, and you make lots of gadgets but barely any work! Your latest invention is the TARDIS, which is supposed to be bigger on the inside, but it doesn’t work at all, and seven months ago you had an affair with Berry Punch!”
Doctor looked at the filly with wide eyes, and then with a look of annoyance. “Oh, so Trixie’s been telling random fillies all of my secrets, huh? The nerve of her!” Doctor grabbed Trixie’s front hoof. “Well, let’s go find your parents, shall we?”
Trixie wondered what Doctor meant by “filly” and “find your parents”. She looked at a reflection of herself in one of the store windows right next her, and was shocked at what she saw. Staring back at her was a small blue filly, with a silver mane and tail. It was here, but in filly form. “I’m…No, this can’t be! H-How!?” Trixie gasped in realisation. “That drug…Doctor, listen, I am Trixie! Look, this is my Cutie Mark, see!?”
Doctor examined the young filly’s flank, and saw Trixie’s Cutie Mark there. It was a silver wisp of smoke with a silver star shaped wand. This took Doctor by surprise. Sure, identical Cutie Marks were possible, but…This filly also resembled Trixie in every other way, too. He examined the filly more closely, and his eyes opened as wide as they possibly could. “T-Trixie? Is that…Really you?”
Doctor and Trixie moved back to their hotel room to continue their conversation. Doctor was still taken aback by the whole situation, but the walk back managed to help him calm down. “So, instead of killing you, this drug shrunk you down to the size of a filly? Incredible! Simply incredible!”
“I disagree!” Trixie shouted, fumbling around with a glass as she attempted to pour herself a glass of wine. “I can’t stay in filly form! How am I supposed to perform to my adoring fans like this!?”
“Are you sure you should be drinking? I mean you’re…Y’know…”
Trixie glared Doctor into silence, and brought the glass up to her mouth. She hated using her hooves, but in this form, her magic was too weak to even levitate something. “I really need a drink right now! My head is killing me…” Trixie drank the whole glass of wine in one go, and let out a deep sigh. “So, do you think you can invent something to…Y’know, change me back?”
Doctor frowned and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but without a sample of the drug, I can’t make an antidote. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
“Ugh, great, so now the Great and Powerful Trixie is supposed to perform as a filly? How is she supposed to explain this to her fans?”
“No!” Doctor shouted, startling Trixie and stunning her into silence. He walked up to Trixie and looked at her with the most serious face she had ever seen him wear. “Listen, Trixie, above all else, you must not tell anypony who you are! No one must know that you are alive! If the stallions in black find out, then they’ll surely come back to finish the job! And they may even target ponies close to you, too!”
Trixie shook in fear as she realised that what Doctor was saying was true. If the stallions in black had tried to kill her once, then they would surely try again if they knew that she was still alive. She looked down at the floor, struggling to hold back her tears. “W-What should I do?”
Doctor looked at Trixie with a look of sympathy. “Well, the first thing we need to do is hide your identity…Then, from there, we can start thinking of how to find those stallions in black clothes…That is, if you’re willing to risk your life to return to your previous form.”
Trixie thought for a few minutes, and then finally shook her head. “I…I’m not sure…I…I almost died today…What if I’m not so lucky next time?” She looked up at Doctor. “I need some time to think…”
Doctor nodded in understanding. “Yes, Trixie. Take as much time as you need. In the meantime, I think you should lay low in Ponyville. It’s a small town, with not many ponies, so it’ll be easier to hide you there.”
Trixie didn’t argue with the idea. She was uncomfortable with returning to Ponyville after what occurred the last time she was there, but in her current form, she didn’t really have much to worry about, as long as she kept her identity a secret. Plus she needed somewhere quiet to collect her thoughts.
The following morning, Trixie and Doctor took an early morning train to Ponyville. At this point, Trixie was in no mood to walk around Manehatten and visit the sites. Especially when the stallions in black could still be anywhere in the city.
Doctor stopped by a clothing shop before they left the hotel, and bought a small brown cape for Trixie to wear, and some fake glasses from a 1 bit store. The glasses were just to make it harder to see the resemblance between Trixie and this new filly, and the cape was to hide her Cutie Mark, since that would be a dead giveaway to anypony who knew her, or who had at least seen her before.
Once the two were in Ponyville, Doctor and Trixie made their way Doctor’s home. On the way, however, they were intercepted by a grey blur that knocked Doctor down to the ground. “DOCTOR!”
Trixie turned around to see Doctor lying on the ground with a grey Pegasus on top of him. She laughed nervously and flew off of him, allowing him to rise back up to his hooves. “Sorry, Doctor. I just didn’t expect you to come back so soon.”
Doctor rubbed a hoof against his side and looked up at the grey Pegasus, forcing a smile on his face. “Oh, Derpy. It’s uh…Good to see you again. How’ve you been?”
“Good! And you?”
“Oh, I’ve been good too, thanks for asking. So, uh, why are you up and about so early, anyway?”
“Oh, well, you know what they say: early bird gets the muffin!”
Trixie looked at Derpy with a look of confusion. “Wait, isn’t it “early bird gets the worm”?”
Derpy looked over at Trixie, and then back at Doctor. “Doctor, who’s this? Is she…” Derpy gasped, and then looked at Doctor with an angry look on her face. “Is she you daughter!? What have you been doing while you were away!? I can’t believe it! So, who’s the mother, huh!?”
Doctor raised his hooves to signal Derpy to calm down, looking around nervously at the few early risers that were watching the scene. “Please, Derpy, calm down. It’s not like that. She’s my, uh…”
“I’m his niece,” Trixie said, smirking at Doctor’s flustered face and forcing herself not to laugh. “I’ll be staying with my uncle Doctor for a while. Nice to meet you!” She bowed politely to Derpy, making sure not to raise her cape as she usually would.
She found it harder than she thought it would be not to use third pony speak, but it seems the practice on the train really helped a lot. Both Trixie and Doctor began to think that hiding her identity might not be so hard after all.
“Oh, I see…I guess that makes sense. He was only gone a few days,” Derpy said, laughing nervously as her face turned red. Trixie wondered how the Pegasus didn’t pick up on that sooner. Derpy landed in front of Trixie and smiled at the little filly. “So, what’s your name?”
There was a long pause there after Derpy asked that. Trixie and Doctor both exchanged wide-eyed glances, and then realised the one thing that they had not prepared: a name.
Inside her mind, Trixie was cursing herself over and over for somehow missing such an important detail. ‘Think Trixie, think! A fake name can’t be that hard to come up with!’
“Well?” Derpy asked.
Without thinking, Trixie straightened up and answered: “S-Star Swirl!”
Another long pause followed Trixie’s answer. Derpy commented on the strange name, but still gave her a warm welcome to Ponyville. Once Derpy took off down the street, Doctor and Trixie continued towards Doctor’s house.
“Why did you pick that name, of all possible names?” Doctor whispered to Trixie.
Trixie shrugged, and just continued walking. “I panicked,” she whispered back. “It was the first thing that came to mind. Besides, why didn’t you think of a name for me earlier?”
“Why didn’t you!?”
“I was hung-over! I couldn’t think straight!”
“You had one glass of wine!”
“I’m a lightweight, ok!?”
The two continued arguing all the way back to Doctor’s house, keeping their voices low so as to not attract unwanted attention.
When the two finally reached Doctor’s house, Doctor insisted on thinking up a better name for Trixie, but Trixie actually liked the name Star Swirl. She thought it was cool, being a huge fan of Star Swirl the Bearded.
“Well, alright, if you’re fine with it…” Doctor said, finally giving in. He then moved over to his workshop, and started searching through a few of his items. “Now, let’s see…I should have a few items here that can help you…”
Later that day, Doctor decided to take Trixie over to the school to have her enrolled as a student there. Trixie argued against this, but Doctor insisted that, for the sake of hiding her identity, she act as much like a young schoolfilly as possible.
The cape Trixie was wearing earlier was left at Doctor’s house. Doctor leant her a device that would hide her Cutie Mark from view. It was a device her built for Trixie’s stage shows, that would change a Cutie Mark’s image from one to another. It appeared to be a thin sheet of plastic upon first looking at it, and when worn, couldn’t be seen by the naked eye. However, it wasn’t complete, and so far, all it could do was hide Trixie’s Cutie Mark, making her appear to be a blank flank.
There was also the limit that it worked off of solar power, with only a one hour backup power supply. Meaning that she had to avoid areas with little to no light as much as possible, or she could run the risk of being found out.
The second item Doctor leant her was a new pair of fake glasses, that also housed a small transmitter and bugging device. Doctor figured that, if she decided to hunt down the stallions in black, she would stand a better chance investigating them quietly, and from a distance. That is, if she ever ran into them again.
Finally, at Trixie’s request, Doctor gave her a ring for her horn. It looked like just a fashionable ring, with a pretty rose pattern on it, but in actuality, it was used to enhance her magic. Just a single press of the hidden button in the rose’s bud on her ring, and her magic would be enhanced to the point of her fully grown self’s magic. Of course, doing so would put a strain on her mind, so he warned her to only do it in emergencies, and to never, ever use it to show off to others, since that would attract unwanted attention.
Trixie reluctantly accepted Doctor’s conditions. She decided that, even if she wasn’t going to use her magic to show off, she would at least feel more comfortable knowing she had some way to defend herself if she were attacked suddenly.
On their way to the school, the two were intercepted by a pink pony, who suddenly bounced in front of the two from out of nowhere. She flashed a big, toothy grin at the two confused ponies, and just when Doctor was about to ask if they could help her, she suddenly closed in on Trixie.
“Hi there! My name’s Pinkie Pie! It’s nice to meet you! You’re new here, aren’t you? What am I saying, of course you are! ‘Cause I don’t recognise you, and I don’t recognise you, it means I’ve never seen you before, and I know everypony in Ponyville, so if I’ve never seen you before, that means you’re not from Ponyville! So, d’you have any friends yet? Wanna come to a party? I throw a party for all newcomers to Ponyville! Oh, you simply have to come! It’ll be so great, and I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends in no time! So, what d’you say?”
Trixie stared at the hyperactive pony as she tried to make sense of her ramblings. The first thought that passed through her mind was that the pink pony was crazy, and possibly dangerous. Then she decided that maybe she was just plain crazy.
Doctor saw Trixie having trouble, and leant her a helping hoof. “Sorry, Miss Pie, but we’re sort of in a hurry. You see, I need to get my niece here enrolled at the Ponyville school, and-”
“Doctor has a niece?” Rainbow Dash asked and she walked up to the group. She looked down at the filly, and a frown suddenly crossed her face. “Huh, have we met before? I feel like we have.”
Trixie flinched when she saw the rainbow maned pony. It wasn’t easy to forget such a colourful pony. And unfortunately, it seemed her disguise wasn’t as effective as she was hoping. She swallowed hard, and then tried to put on an innocent act in front of the blue Pegasus.
“U-Uh, no, I d-don’t think we have. M-My name’s Star Swirl. Nice to meet you,” she said as she bowed politely to Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow narrowed her eyes at Trixie, eyeing her suspiciously. Doctor saw this and intervened, pushing past Rainbow Dash with Trixie. “Well, it was nice to see you, but we really must get going. See you!”
“Hey, Doctor, you’re a friend of Trixie’s, aren’t you?” Rainbow Dash asked, causing both Trixie and Doctor to freeze in place.
“W-Why do you ask?” Doctor asked, breaking into a nervous sweat.
“Well, I just heard from a friend that you know her. Could you let her know that what she did to Twilight wasn’t cool?”
Trixie wondered what she meant, and then remembered that she was supposed to meet Twilight for that slumber party last night. A pang of guilt passed through her body. Surely Twilight didn’t wait outside all night, right?
“Twilight waited outside all night! She would’ve caught a cold if we didn’t bring her in when it started to rain!”
Doctor looked down at Trixie, a frown on his face when he saw her shaking and staring at the ground. “Uh, actually…” Doctor turned to face Rainbow Dash, a serious look on his face. “The truth it, I don’t know where Trixie is right now. All she told me is that something of major importance popped up, and that she had to leave right away. So…”
“That’s still no excuse for standing somepony up like that! She could’ve at least said something to Twilight, y’know!?”
Trixie started walking off on her own, not wanting to listen to anymore of this conversation. Doctor apologised on Trixie’s behalf, and followed the little filly. “Hey, are you ok?”
“…I’m fine, Doctor,” Trixie lied, trying not to worry Doctor with her problems.
The rest of the way to the school was spent in silence. Finally, when they reached the school, they saw a large number of ponies, both foals and grownup ponies, crowding around the school building. Curios, the two walked closer to examine the scene. They found out that somepony had vandalised the building.
After pushing through the crowds to reach the front, Doctor and Trixie saw that the wall of the school building had been vandalised in three ways: graffiti had been sprayed on the wall, in the shape of a pony mooning the viewer; sratch marks were running down the wall; and there was a huge hole in the wall, in the shape of a pony’s body. The shape appeared to belong to a Unicorn foal.
“Sweetie Belle, I am most disappointed in you!”
“Ah thought you knew better than that, Applebloom!”
Trixie turned to the sources of the scolding voices, and saw two ponies she recognised as Twilight’s friends scolding a group of three fillies. One filly was a yellow Earth Pony with a big red bow. Another was an orange Pegasus with a purple mane. The final one was a white Unicorn, whose face was hidden beneath her hooves.
Doctor walked up to the two ponies to see what all the fuss was about. “It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with, Doctor,” Rarity said, turning face her sister with an angry look. “It seems these three thought they could get their Cutie Marks in vandalism, and…Well, just see for yourself!”
A pink filly approached the group, accompanied by a grey filly, both of which looked like they were enjoying the situation. “That’s right. We saw the whole thing,” the pink filly said, giggling as she watched the three fillies glaring at her. “It seems being blank flanks finally got to them, but that’s still no excuse for damaging school property.”
“That’s right, Applebloom,” Applejack said, looking down at her younger sister. “Just wait ‘til ah get you home. Why, Big Mac’s just gonna-”
“Are these the paint cans used to vandalise the wall?” Trixie asked, drawing the group’s attention towards her as she examined the paint cans lying next to the wall. Cheerilee, the teacher at the school, confirmed that they were. “And how did they scratch the wall?”
“We don’t know,” Cheerilee answered. She had a disappointed look on her face. “We still haven’t got them to tell us where they hid whatever they used.”
“Isn’t that strange?” Trixie asked. “They hid whatever was used to scratch the wall, but they didn’t hide the cans? And look.” She pointed to the scratch marks. “If you look closely enough, you can see that the wall was scratched after the wall was painted on. So if they hid the scratching instrument, they must have had plenty of time to hide the cans.”
The group stared at the young filly in stunned silence, contemplating what she had just said. “So you’re saying the cans were planted there to frame them?”
Everypony turned to see a purple Unicorn approaching Trixie. Trixie’s eyes widened as she saw Twilight Sparkle approaching her, and her legs began shaking in fear. She closed her eyes, counted to ten in her head, and clamed herself down. She opened her eyes again, and nodded slowly. “Y-Yeah. I think so.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes as she examined the young filly. She was about to ask her name, but a voice from the pink filly behind her stopped her. “Hold on! Couldn’t they have just scratched the wall with the paint cans? It’s not a very strong wall, you know!? Anything could scratch it!”
Trixie turned to the pink filly, and then to the paint cans. “True, but…Well, just look. The paints cans are in good condition. No dents or scratch marks on them. Not to mention they’re too big to have caused these scratches.” She picked up one of the paint cans, a green one, and shook it. “More evidence that this was planted. No green was used on the wall…So why is there a half-empty green one here with the lid off?”
Twilight lifted a few of the cans with her magic, and noticed something strange. “Wait a minute…This one’s brand new! And it still has the safety seal around it!”
“Safety seal?” Cheerilee asked, examining the can. “What’s that?”
“Spray cans come with a safety seal, which must be removed before they can be used,” Twilight explained, pointing out the barely visible plastic around the top of the spray can.
“And the colour, purple, also doesn’t show up on the wall. So most likely, it was just planted as a decoy,” Trixie said.
The grey filly walked up to her with an angry look on her face. “Maybe they just decided not to use it! Honestly, we saw them standing there holding the spray cans! Who else could it have been!?”
Cheerilee sighed and nodded her head, again looking disappointed. “I’m afraid Silver Spoon’s right. I came out when they called to me, and sure enough, the three were standing there holding the paint cans.”
Trixie ignored the teacher’s testimony and approached the two fillies that were glaring daggers at her. “Alright, then answer this: how did you two know how weak the wall was?”
The two fillies were rendered speechless, and the crowd of ponies around the scene turned their attention on the two fillies. Trixie continued, putting a hoof on the wall. “It certainly doesn’t look weak, and it doesn’t feel weak, either…Also…” Trixie leaned in closer and narrowed her eyes. “It may just be my imagination, but I see little silver fragments here in these scratch marks…Much like your tiara, pink one.”
The pink filly scoffed at the accusation. “My name is Diamond Tiara, and are you saying I did this!? Why would I go through so much trouble to vandalise a school wall and then frame three random fillies!?”
“Because you hate us!” Applebloom shouted.
“Yeah! You’re always giving us trouble!” Scootaloo joined in.
Sweetie Belle simply nodded, her head still in her hooves.
Trixie grabbed Diamond Tiara’s tiara, ignoring her protests, and examined it. “This tip here looks pretty worn out.” Trixie pointed to one tip of the tiara.
Diamond Tiara took back her tiara forcefully, wiped it with her hoof, and then placed it back on her head. “Well, duh! I’ve had it for a while! I was going to get a new one soon!”
Trixie narrowed her eyes at Diamond Tiara, and was about to speak up, when the tiara was suddenly lifted up by a veil of purple magic. From behind Trixie, Twilight approached the pink filly, and examined her closely. “Diamond…Why is there orange paint in your mane?”
Diamond Tiara flinched, and was now starting to sweat nervously. She tried to come up with an excuse, but when she couldn’t she resorted to plan b. “Y-You guys are really desperate to make the culprit, aren’t you!? So, what, you think I somehow knew that these three just happen to pass by the school wall before anypony else, and just happen to pick up those paint cans!?”
“Of course,” Trixie said, once again taking the spotlight. “After all, you set up the dangerous stunt that would apparently earn them their Cutie Marks, right?”
“H-How’d you know-” Diamond Tiara shushed herself quickly, but it was too late now. Everypony heard what she said, and knew what it meant. Nonetheless, Trixie continued.
“The white one over there,” Trixie said, pointing to Sweetie Belle. “She’s been very quiet, and is holding her head in her hooves tightly…Isn’t that because she’s hurt?”
Almost immediately, Rarity rushed to her sister’s side and moved her hooves, checking her sister for injuries. She let out a loud gasp when she saw a rather nasty bruise on her head. “Sweetie Belle! What happened to you!?” she asked, hugging her sister tightly.
“You can tell from the shape of the dent on the wall that a Unicorn foal must have crashed into it with some force. You mentioned that “they were finally tired of being blank flanks”, or something to that effect, right? Meaning that they were tired of not having discovered their special talents. I imagine they were desperate, and willing to try anything to find them.” Everypony around nodded. There was no argument there; the three fillies were famous throughout Ponyville for the stunts they pulled trying to finally earn their Cutie Marks.
Trixie let out a soft chuckle. “Just like when I was a filly…” The group looked at her confused, except for Doctor, who looked like he was having a heart attack. Trixie quickly tried to recover from her slipup. “Ah, I mean, that’s what my mother would always tell me!” she said. “My mother was a late bloomer too, and apparently, she tried many, many things to earn her Cutie Mark. She told me that all foals that earn their Cutie Marks after everypony else are like that!”
Everypony in the group seemed to buy it. Doctor breathed a heavy sigh of relief, but almost jumped out of his skin again when he saw Twilight looking down at Trixie with that same look she always gave somepony when she was checking to see if they were lying. ‘T-That’s not good! I think she suspects her!’
Trixie tried to return the conversation back to the situation at hoof. “A-Anyway, if you set it up so that they crashed into the wall at a certain time, it wouldn’t be difficult to pin the blame on them.”
Diamond Tiara was starting to sweat nervously, but wasn’t ready to back down just yet. “And where’s your proof, huh!? You’re just trying to protect those three and pin the blame on us, aren’t you!?”
“Then let’s try this: you three.” Trixie turned to the three fillies who were being blamed for this crime. “Am I correct in guessing you didn’t touch all of the paint cans?”
The three fillies nodded, and a grin appeared on Trixie’s face. “Then, we’ll simply check each can for hoofprints. Then we’ll know who touched which can…And we can even tell, from the pattern of the prints on the cans, whether somepony used a can or not.”
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were both shaking now, their eyes wide as they tried to find some way out of this situation. Trixie could see them about to give in, and gave one final push. “Doctor, would you please collect each can and take them back to your place for analysis?”
“No!” Silver Spoon shouted. She then realised that everypony was staring at her, and that there was no way out of this. “We…We did it…”
After confessing to everything, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were taken home by their parents, who assured everypony that the two fillies would be grounded for a while for this. They refused to explain why exactly they went so far as to try and frame the “Cutie Mark Crusaders”, which Trixie learned was the collective name of the three fillies, but Trixie could see the reason in their eyes: jealousy.
After the situation was resolved, the crowd around the school started to disappear. The three crusaders went to their separate homes, after thanking Trixie for her help. They noticed her lack of Cutie Mark, and insisted that she join the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but she had no interest and simply turned them down.
Doctor and Cheerilee went inside the school to discuss Trixie’s, or rather, Star Swirl’s transfer into the school. Trixie was left waiting outside. She tried to pass the time by drawing on the ground with a stick. She never realised how hard it was to use hooves, especially when you can usually use magic to perform mundane tasks like drawing.
“Why don’t you just use your magic?” Trixie looked up to see Twilight Sparkle looking down at her, with an un-amused look on her face. “That is your special talent, right?”
Trixie’s eyes widened, and she quickly turned her face away, attempting to hide her shock. “W-What d’you mean? I-I’m a blank flank, see?”
“Of all the names you could’ve picked, you chose Star Swirl. I didn’t realise you were such a fan of his, Trixie.”
“I-It was my mother that named me. W-Who’s this Trixie? I’ve never heard of her before.” Trixie broke into a nervous sweat as she tried to convince Twilight that she wasn’t Trixie. It was clear that Twilight didn’t believe her, and she didn’t know how long she could keep this up.
“Ok, Star Swirl, we’ve got you enrolled!” Doctor shouted as he exited the school building. Trixie turned to him excitedly and quickly ran to his side. He noticed Twilight looking over at Trixie with a stern look, and started to fear the worse. “Uh, hello there, Miss Sparkle…Um, lovely day today, isn’t it?”
Twilight turned her attention to Doctor, narrowing her eyes at him. “You’re in on this, aren’t you?”
“I-In on what? Whatever are you talking about?”
“You know what’s happened to Trixie, and you’re keeping it secret from me!” Twilight shouted as she stomped a hoof on the ground.
Doctor raised a hoof and asked her to calm down, and then let out a deep sigh. “Alright, Miss Sparkle…I was asked not tell you, but I guess I have no choice. Come with me, and I’ll explain everything.”
Trixie looked at Doctor with a shocked look. Surely he wasn’t going to reveal her secret to Twilight so easily! And what did he mean when he said he was asked to tell her? That was his suggestion!
After a long, silent walk through Ponyville, the trio eventually reached Doctor’s house. He asked to wait outside while he searched for something. Trixie wanted to go inside, but Doctor’s insisted that she’d be just fine.
And so, Twilight and Trixie were left on their own outside. Twilight looked at Trixie with a frown on her face. “Why, Trixie? Why didn’t you say anything? If you didn’t want to be friends with me, you could have just told me so…I was worried that something may have happened to you.”
Trixie wasn’t able to answer. Part of her wanted to just reveal the truth, but another part wanted to find some way out of this situation as quickly as possible. Twilight moved closer to Trixie, and continued speaking. “Please, Trixie…Tell me what happened to you.”
“It was a family emergency,” a voice said. Trixie and Twilight’s heads shot up, and looked towards Doctor’s house. The voice came from vaguely that direction, but more importantly, it was Trixie’s voice. “Sorry, Twilight. Trixie should have told you, but it completely slipped her mind.”
Twilight moved past Trixie and looked around. “Trixie? Are you there?”
Trixie looked towards the front door of Doctor’s house. Was this another one of Doctor’s inventions? In any case, Trixie saw this as her chance. She pushed the button on her ring, and used her magic to create an illusionary image of herself, which came out from behind Doctor’s house.
“Trixie!” Twilight shouted, running over to the image.
“Don’t come any closer!” the image appeared to have shouted. Trixie made the image turn its head, so that its horrible lip synchronisation wasn’t noticed by Twilight. “Trixie only came to apologise. She doesn’t wish to stay any longer.”
“W-What? But…What about-”
“The slumber party? Trixie’s changed her mind. She’s fine without friends, for now.”
Trixie cringed at how stupid Doctor was making her sound, but she knew that it was for the best. This way, Twilight wouldn’t involve herself with Trixie anymore, and the chances of her finding out Trixie’s true identity would lower.
“Trixie must go now! She has a lot of work to do! Farewell, Twilight Sparkle!”
Trixie took this as her cue to make the phantom image run away into a dark alley. As expected, Twilight chased after the image, but Trixie dispelled it before Twilight could reach the alley. When Twilight didn’t return, Trixie assumed that Twilight must have still been giving chase.
Trixie, now content that Twilight didn’t know her true identity, made her way inside Doctor’s house. Once inside, she saw that she wasn’t the only one relieved that Twilight bought the deception. Sitting against the wall with a hoof to his forehead, wiping away a nervous sweat, was Doctor, and in his hooves, a red bowtie.
“Is that what you used to mimic my voice?” Trixie asked, pointing a hoof to the bowtie.
Doctor nodded, and then looked over at Trixie with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry, Trixie. I didn’t have much time to think of something better. And I figured that, this way-”
Trixie cut Doctor off. She didn’t need him to explain. She was just thankful that Twilight didn’t find out Trixie’s true identity. “It’s fine, Doctor. And…Thank you.” An awkward silence filled the room, which Trixie tried to break immediately. “But…Why a bowtie?”
Doctor sat up and laughed, holding the bowtie up above his head. “Because in the future, bowties will be cool!”
Trixie sighed and slammed a hoof to her face. She then took a minute to think, and then faced Doctor with a determined look on her face. “Doctor…Do you think I could borrow that sometime?”
Doctor turned to Trixie. “Sure, but why?”
“Because…I can’t leave things as they are right now…And if I’m going to find those stallions in black, then I’m going to need all the help I can get.”
Doctor’s face turned serious once again, and he examined Trixie for a moment. He saw that she was determined, and wouldn’t back down. Sighing, he handed the bowtie over to Trixie. “Just…Be careful, ok? I’m willing to help you, but I have no intention of dying because of this.”
“I understand,” Trixie said as she reached for the bowtie. She grabbed it and examined it for a bit, checking to see how it worked.
Doctor turned around and walked over to his computer. “Well, I may be able to help you find leads…I don’t mean to brag, but I should be able to hack into the various precinct data banks throughout Equestria. If anything that looks like it could be related to those stallions in black shows up, I’ll let you know.” Doctor turned around to face Trixie, who looked rather worried about something. “Is…Something wrong?”
Trixie turned to Doctor and held up the bowtie in her hooves. “Can I get this in purple, please?”
Doctor sighed and facehooved. “I guess some things never change, huh?"
